Wednesday, May 17, 2017

The Cowboy and the Kid by Anne McAllister

Having
a father is a big responsibility.

And
finding him a wife is a challenge eight-year-old Becky Jones takes seriously.
Ex-rodeo cowboy Taggart Jones is adamant. No marriage. Been there. Done that.

Not
even if Becky’s dream candidate is her beautiful, blonde teacher, Felicity
Albright, who knows about barrettes, patching up scrapes, and hates carrots as
much as his daughter. Taggart’s still not interested. Much.

What’s
a daughter to do? Becky’s nothing if not ingenious, and she’s determined to
convince a stubborn Taggart and a bemused Felicity that they really have met
their match.

There’s
been some things going on lately and I really just wanted an upbeat read that I
didn’t really have to think about and since the books in my TBR mountain wasn’t
really cutting it, I looked at my past due pile and found this one. Seriously,
the title and the blurb screamed cute and adorable and it was just what I needed.

Here’s
why liked it:

ØTaggart Jones. Seriously, is there a place to order a
Taggart of mine own? He’s a single father and instead of letting his parents
raise his daughter when his wife left him, he took her with him on the road
during his years as a rodeo star. And, once he realized, that doing what he
loved could leave his daughter without a father, he stopped and chose to open a
bull riding school instead of competing.

ØFelicity
Albright is one tough chick—and possibly a bit mad. She made a deal with one of
her student’s parents that if she could learn how to do something new, then he
would allow her to continue teaching his son in a way that gets through to him
rather than straight from a textbook. So, this crazy lady decides to learn how
to ride a bull—much to Taggart’s chagrin.

ØThe fact that
the matchmaking was done by Taggart’s daughter and her friend was adorable. They
were willing to do anything to make sure Taggart and Felicity noticed each
other so it was exciting to see what they would come up with next.

Here’s
what could have been improved:

ØThe book’s a bit
dated—it’s a rerelease that originally came out in the late ‘90s but it has a
slightly older feel to it. It would have helped me get into the flow easier if
I would have known it was a reprint when I started.

ØThe romance
between Felicity and Taggart could have been a bit more developed. It went from
attraction to resistance to a date-that-wasn’t-a-date to more resistance then let’s
get married without showing a relationship. So, the attraction was there but
the chemistry and development was lacking.

ØI could have
done without some of the random plot devices. Sure, they allowed the plot to advance
but some of them were a bit out there in left field and had me going, ‘yeah,
that wouldn’t have happened’.

ØI would have
liked a bit of backstory on Taggart’s first marriage. Things were alluded to
but never addressed and it sort of left holes in the plot.

Overall,
it wasn’t one of the best books I’ve read but it wasn’t the worst, either. It
was fun, cute, and what I needed at the time.